Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Background: Cardiometabolic impairment and gut dysbiosis are commonly observed in obesity. We previously demonstrated that modulation of the gut microbiota using prebiotic and probiotic treatments alleviates cardiometabolic dysfunction in high-fat diet (HFD)-induced prediabetic rats. In this study, we investigated the effects of prebiotic (Musa sapientum L.)-rich banana snacks, containing varying inulin concentrations depending on ripening stage, on cardiometabolic function in prediabetic rats.
Hypothesis: We hypothesized that banana snacks enriched with inulin attenuates cardiometabolic impairment in pre-diabetic rats.
Methods: Male rats were fed either a normal diet (ND) or HFD for 24 weeks. At week 12, HFD-fed rats exhibiting prediabetes and cardiac dysfunction were subsequently fed with banana snacks containing one of the following inulin concentrations: 0.61, 1.14, 1.8, or 2 g/kg/day, or with pure inulin at 2 g/kg/day as a positive control, for an additional 12 weeks while continued eating HFD. Cardiometabolic parameters, cardiac mitochondrial function, and inflammation were assessed.
Results: Prediabetic rats exhibited cardiac dysfunction, sympathovagal imbalance, and cardiac mitochondrial dysfunction. Supplementation with either banana snacks or inulin reduced hypercholesterolemia and systemic oxidative stress, particularly at inulin concentrations of 1.8–2 g/kg/day. We also observed a reduction in cardiac mitochondrial oxidative stress (Figure 1) and an increase in mitochondrial fusion at these concentrations, while mitochondrial fission and inflammatory markers remained unchanged. These changes were associated with an improvement in cardiac sympathovagal balance (Figure 1). However, neither banana snacks nor inulin improved insulin resistance or cardiac function in prediabetic rats. Furthermore, banana snacks did not affect cardiometabolic parameters, cardiac mitochondrial function, or inflammatory markers in ND rats (Figure 1).
Conclusion: Banana snacks attenuated oxidative stress and improved cardiac autonomic balance in prediabetic rats. These finding suggest that it could be supplementary food to reduce impaired autonomic balance and oxidative stress under this condition.